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tailbone.”

“No!” Grace cried.

“Yes! And none of us would help him get up because

well, his dick and his ass were hanging out and he had these

pinchy things on his nipples. So we called 9-1-1 instead,

after I got a shot of him on my cell-phone camera, that is.”

By now Donna was laughing so hard she was crying,

and even reserved Jade was red-faced from giggling. And

Grace, she was considering how she might easily fall for a

guy who could come up with a plan this evil. It was worthy

even of her.

146

Cat Johnson

Jordan pulled up in front of the building Grace had given

him directions to. Valentine’s Day, the day they would

finally meet for the first time.

He was not sure if he was relieved or more nervous that

the meeting would take place at her friend’s apartment in

front of a bunch of people in the middle of a party. Maybe it

would take some of the pressure off. Or the scenario would

make it worse. Either way, he would have to eventually get

out of the car and go upstairs.

Jordan gathered his nerve and even got one hand on the

handle, about to open the door, when a brisk knock on the

window nearly gave him a heart attack. Glancing up and

seeing Grace shocked his poor heart into beating again. He

swallowed and rolled the window down.

She smiled broadly at him. “It’s you. Jordan, right?”

He nodded. “Disappointed?”

Frowning, she shook her head. “No, not at all. I am

surprised, though. I never thought you knew who I was. You

keep to yourself.”

Jordan nodded and dropped his eyes. “I’m a little shy.” It

was the bane of his existence.

Grace grinned. “Well, no one can be shy around me and

my friends for long. I’ll cure you of that quick enough.”

“I look forward to it.” Jordan finally allowed himself to

breathe freely. She hadn’t run away screaming or made an

excuse to be somewhere else and cancel their date.

“Are you getting out of the car or do I have to come in

there with you?” Grace tipped her head to the side and

waited for his answer.

“I’m getting out. Oh, I almost forgot. I have something

for you.” He reached into the passenger seat and grabbed the

present with a less than steady hand. “I hope you like it.”

Grace beamed at him. “I’ve loved every single thing

you’ve given me. But I didn’t bring anything for you.”

Jordan lowered his head. “I didn’t expect you to. Just

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

your agreeing to meet me is enough.”

Grace held the gift in her gloved hands, “Can I open it

now?”

He glanced up and smiled, knowing how she felt about

gifts. “Of course.”

She tore through the paper in seconds and exclaimed,

“It’s the pink cell phone case I wanted. They told me at the

store they were discontinued.”

“They are. I have connections.” He shrugged.

Grace leaned down close to him. “Thank you.” Then she

inched closer and her wind-chilled lips touched his.

They may have done a lot on IM, but this was their first

real kiss.

She pulled back and he could finally breathe again, at

least enough to say, “That was nice.”

Grace nodded. “Yeah, it was. Weird but nice.”

“Weird?” Not the best adjective for a first kiss.

“I feel like I know you so well online. I mean we’ve

done so much together. But we’re really still strangers.”

He could swear she blushed in the dim illumination of

the street lamp. “No, not strangers. Maybe friends who just

met?”

Shaking her head, Grace said, “No. More than

friends…who just met.”

He laughed and nodded. “I guess we better get inside.”

“Yeah. But we don’t have to stay too long if you don’t

want to.”

Jordan’s heart fell at that. “Oh. Okay. If you don’t even

want to go, I mean, that’s fine. I’ll just say goodnight now.”

Grace grabbed the lapel of his jacket through the open

window and smacked a big kiss on his surprised lips. “I

meant I want to be alone with you later.”

His eyes opened wide. “Oh.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I guess I come on a

little strong sometimes. You’ll get used to me, eventually.”

He grinned. “I look forward to that, too.”

~

148

Cat Johnson

Grace and Jordan, the tall, surprisingly cute and

painfully shy man formerly known as her secret admirer,

arrived at Donna’s door fashionably late but in plenty of

time for the Valentine’s Day festivities. Grace held a tin of

her homemade lemon squares in one hand and Jordan’s hand

in her other one. Holding the hand of a man who she knew

so well and yet did not know at all was strange, but nice.

Donna answered the door and stopped, dead still for a

moment, eyes wide. Then she looked at Grace expectantly.

Grace rolled her eyes. “Yes, this is him. Donna, this is

Jordan. Jordan, this is my friend Donna.”

Donna raised a brow. “Are you sure it’s really him this

time?”

Grace scowled. “Just let us in the damn apartment. I

need a glass of champagne.”

Donna grinned. “Well, Jordan. It is my pleasure to meet

you. Any man who willingly puts up with Grace is alright in

my book, and probably a saint, too.”

“Bitch,” Grace growled.

“That’s why you love me!” Donna responded and

opened the door all the way to allow them inside.

Grace paused and glanced at her timid yet totally do-able

new boyfriend. “You alright?”

He looked a bit shell-shocked but nodded. “Do you guys

always talk to each other that way?”

Grace nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.” She shrugged. “We

have known each other for most of our lives. We can be a bit

overwhelming, I know.”

Jordan smiled. “No, you all make me feel right at home.

“Good, because everyone wants to hear again in detail

what happened when you and the boss walked in on Guy and

you are just the man to tell it.”

At Jordan’s look of panic, Grace added, “Don’t worry.

I’ll be right there by your side the entire time.”

She needn’t have worried about Jordan. He soon proved

he could hold his own in a small group. At the moment he

was ensconced amid the other men.

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

Grace gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “I’m gonna

go put out my lemon bars.” He nodded and went back to

listening to Sam tell a story about when he was on the police

force.

She entered the kitchen to find Donna and Jade already

there getting the desserts together. “Look. Our men are all

bonding.”

Donna smiled while putting the heart-shaped cheesecake

onto a heart-shaped serving plate. “I know. Isn’t it sweet?”

Jade nodded. “Very. I’m glad Sam and Daniel are

making Jordan feel like part of the group.”

Donna laughed. “Why wouldn’t they? It can’t be easy

being our boyfriends. They have to stick together. It’s their

only hope.”

“You’re probably right,” Jade agreed while spooning

whipped cream onto strawberries.

Grace popped open the tin of lemon bars and glowered.

“Speak for yourself.” At the look that Donna sent her, she

gave in. “Oh, alright. Yes, we’re not easy. But we are worth

it.”

Donna smiled. “Yes, we are.”

The kitchen phone rang loudly as Grace assembled the

lemon bars on a serving plate and garnished them with a

sprinkle of confectionary sugar, fresh mint and raspberries.

Donna, hands full with the cheesecake said, “Who could that

be? Everyone we know is here.”

Grace shrugged. “I’ll get it. You just be careful of that

cheesecake. My mouth has been watering for that all night.”

Jade smiled slyly. “I think it might be watering over

your new man.”

Grace shook her head but could not help the smile that

appeared. She grabbed the receiver. “Hello, Donna’s

apartment.”

“Grace! There you all are. No one answered their cell

phones.”

“Belinda! Where are you?” Grace cried as Donna came

rushing back into the kitchen.

150

Cat Johnson

“It’s Belinda? Is she home?”

Grace held up a finger to silence Donna as she heard

Belinda say, “I’m home. Our flight just got in. Lar and I are

coming over.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming home?” Grace

accused.

“I wanted to surprise you. We haven’t been apart on

Valentine’s Day for fifteen years. I wasn’t going to start

now! So what did I miss while I was gone?”

Grace glanced into the other room, particularly at Jordan

and shook her head. “I couldn’t even begin to go into it all

on the phone, and you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Just

get your butt over here.”

“Alright. Give us an hour. Don’t leave until I get there!”

“I won’t. Swear. See you then.” Grace hung up and

smiled at Donna. “She’s on her way. Wow. Do you realize

that this time last year, we didn’t even know Jade and you,

me and Belinda were all single?”

Donna nodded. “I know. What a difference a year

makes.”

At that moment, Jordan walked into the kitchen and

smiled broadly at Grace and she realized a truer statement

had never been spoken.

The End

151

About the Author:

It all started in first grade when Cat Johnson won the essay

contest at Hawthorne Elementary School and got to ride in

the Chief of Police’s car in the Memorial Day Parade…and

the rest, as they say, is history. As an adult, Cat generally

tries to stay out of police cars and is thrilled to be writing for

a living. She has been published under a different name in

the Young Adult genre, but Linden Bay is the first to release

her romances.

On a personal note, Cat has two horses, 10 cats, one dog,

six parakeets, numerous fish and one husband, and is not

sure which of those gives her the most grief. Needless to say,

she is very busy most days on her little 18th century farm in

New York State. She plays the harp professionally and

stresses that this does not mean she plays well. A past

bartender, marketing manager and Junior League president,

Cat’s life is quite the dichotomy, and on any given day she is

just as likely to be in formal eveningwear as in mucking

clothes covered in manure. Cat hates the telephone but loves

email, and is looking forward to hearing from you.

[email protected]

Other works by Cat Johnson:

Trilogy No. 102: Opposites Attract

…a three-part lighthearted romp through the intertwining

lives of six people who learn that in spite of everything you

have to remember to live, love and laugh to be happy.

Taking a Leap: Bradley Morgan is the quintessential

computer geek and nice guy, through and through. The only

problem is that in his opinion, nice guys almost always finish

last when it comes to hot women like his sexy co-worker

Alyssa Jones. But things change after Alyssa finds her

boyfriend cheating. Suddenly, nice guys like Brad don’t look

so bad. So when Brad agrees to ghostwrite the sex scenes for

a romance novel as a favor for desperate client Maria White

and asks for Alyssa’s help after hours, she agrees

wholeheartedly and things really start to heat up. Brad and

Alyssa learn you should never judge a book by its cover, and

that sometimes love requires a leap of faith.

Light my Fire: Amy Gerald’s life is filled with whirlwind

romance. Unfortunately, it’s all on the pages of the romance

novels she publishes. That is until she volunteers to cat-sit

for her author friend Maria and meets Troy O’Donnell, the

hunky fireman who lives next door. The problem is, this

commitment-phobic consummate bachelor is far more

willing to run into a burning building than allow love into his

life. Troy will grasp at any excuse, even the ridiculous

assumption that Amy is a lesbian, just to avoid his growing

feelings for her. Amid a comedy of errors and

misunderstandings, which includes Troy’s first hilarious visit

to a gay bar, Amy manages to light Troy’s fire, but can she

also conquer his fears?

Second Time Around: Antonio Sanchez thought that at 32

his life was all mapped out—wife, kids, career—until some

major bumps in the road radically alter his course and send

him careening right into the path of newly divorced Maddie

Morgan. Suddenly thrust back into single life, Antonio

moves back in with his old-fashioned parents and has to